Bedazzled Card

Hi!

It has been WAY too long since my last post! I have lots of projects to share with you. I am going to start with my most recent one.

After a long, chilly Monday, I came home to an exciting piece of mail. I LOVE getting mail! Especially when it is not a bill ;) I opened the envelope to find that a dear friend, who lives far away, was asking me to be in her wedding. Totally made my day!

I decided that since I had enjoyed getting a fun piece of mail, I wanted her to experience the same joy.

I began brainstorming. GLITTER! was the first thought that came to my head, but when I looked through my supplies, I realized that I was, sadly, out of glitter. I did however, have some sequins...

So, I got out my sequins, hot glue gun and a 4.25"x5.5" light blue flat card with scalloped edges and headed to my trusty computer. On the back of the card, the first thing I wanted my friend to see was the simple word 'yes'. I chose a traditional serif font, Georgia. I wrote 'yes' in all lowercase, bold, size 150 and then printed it on a 4.25"x5.5" piece of computer paper.

 Once I had my 'yes' printed, I taped it to the top of my flat card to hold the paper in place while I trace. I would suggest that if you are going to write a note, that you do it before you start gluing.

Next, I carefully traced the outline of the 'yes' with a sharpie. I started with the fine point sharpie, as pictured, but that was not affective. So, I switch to a regular, old, felt tipped traditional sized sharpie. 

The point of using a sharpie is so that it will bleed through leaving a guide to what your letters look like.

 I decided to go back over the outline with my fin point sharpie in order to have a more distinct outline.

 After my outline was complete, I began planning out how I wanted my sequins to be. I laid them out so that there would be a variety of colors and sizes.

 Once you have a plan, you can begin glue. I used my hot glue gun. I found that it was easiest to glue one or two sequins at a time. Any more than that and you run the risk of the glue being hard and not sticky.

 Here is the finished product!

Here it is going into the envelope. I added a few sequins to the envelope for a little extra sparkle and festiveness.

I was very pleased with how this project turned out. I think that it would be fun to 'yay' or 'love'  or 'baby' for other occasions. The possibilities are endless! It is ideal to keep the word short for two reasons. First, it takes awhile to glue down all of those sequins. Second, it could get too busy with a long word, different colors, and different sized sequins.

Hope you enjoy this post. Make it your own.

~Kate

Updated Bedside Table

Hi,

This weekend was very full, but some how I found a few minutes to swing by some garage sales in my neighborhood. For a total of $18 I got a bedside table, a metal tray, a Swiffer Vac, a Chuck-it and a "L." I'm quite the bargain shopper :) Here are my finds minus the bedside table.

The bedside table was my most expensive purchase, a whopping $10! I liked the lines and size, but it did not have the right feel for our bedroom. Here is what the table looked like to start with.

After my first trip to Lowe's for this project, this is what I had:

• Primer
• Medium Sandpaper
• Paintbrushes
• Screwdriver

I began the project by taking out the drawer. You never know what you might find.

Next, I removed the hardware.

 I then cut a square of sandpaper and began sanding the table.

I just sanded enough to give the table a little bit of texture for the primer to stick to.

I ended up having to put on some gardening gloves because the friction of the sandpaper and the heat from the sun were burning my hand.

  

After sanding the whole thing, I took a slightly damp rag and wiped the dust from sanding away.

Once the piece was dry, I began painting the table with primer. 

A quick note about primer, I used Kilz because it is what my mom has always used. It is oil based, which means that you need mineral spirits to get it off. It might be wise to look for primer that is water based so that it is easier to get off if you are like me and get it all over yourself. I definitely went to a wedding this weekend with paint on the back of my leg that I had missed with the mineral spirits...

Also, depending on the colors that you are working with, it might be more efficient to use a paint and primer in one. Since I was going from a dark color to a light color, I felt that the primer was a necessary separate step.

While the primer was drying, I picked the paint color for the bedside table.

I ended up choosing the color "Golden Glow" by Olympic in a satin finish. This paint was water based, so it came off with soap and water. The paint came from Lowe's, but I also went to Home Depot to get the new hardware. The Home Depot had the brushed nickel cup pull I had in mind.

*The pull in this picture is not the one I ended up using.

After purchasing the yellow paint, I put two coats of the yellow on the table.

 Once it was all finished, I felt like it was a lot of yellow. To make it a little less intense, I decided to add a chevron stripe to the back of the shelf using some left over white paint that I had from another project. Unfortunately, I forgot to take a picture before I painted the white over.

I used painters tape to create the pattern. I also put painters tape along the sides where the brush might accidentally touch. Here is what it looked like when I started to pull up the tape.

There were a few places that needed to be touched up with the yellow, but here is what it looked like when it was done.

 Here is the bedside table that the yellow one replaces.

 





BIG improvement, if I do say so myself :)

I hope that you have enjoyed this post. These methods could be applied to painting other pieces of furniture as well. I would love to hear about any projects that you are working on.

Make it your own!

~Kate

Congrats to the Grads!

Hello,

We have reached the time of year that many students have been waiting for... graduation! Graduation is the culmination of so much work, the grads deserve to be celebrated! My personal favorite way to mark such a grand achievement is to share a bottle of wine with my friend, the graduate, (providing that the are of legal drinking age, of course).

When a friend reached this great milestone recently, I decided to fancy up the bottle a little bit.

Here is what you will need:

• Black Construction Paper (or felt)
• Scissors
• Tape (double sided) or Glue
• Embroidery Thread
• Needle
• Bottle of Wine :)

The first step is to cut a strip of paper, about an inch wide and 3"-4" long.

Next, wrap the strip around the neck of the bottle. 

Secure with tape or glue.

Go back to your construction paper or felt and cut out a square. Mine was about 2"x2".

Thread your needle and then go through the middle of your square.

Pull it through, making sure that there is a knot at the end to keeping it from pulling all the way through.

Take your needle and thread it back through the square near the the first hole. This time you will go top to bottom rather than bottom to top. Be sure that you leave a loop that hangs off the edge of the square. This is important for the formation of your tassel.

Next, cut 3 or 4 strands of the embroidery thread about an 1.5" to 2" long.

Place the loose strings halfway through the loop on the square.

Pull the tails of the loose strings down and take another piece of thread and tie it around the loose pieces slightly below where the loop.

Trim the strings as needed. I also decided that I wanted my tassel to hang shorter. It was easy to pull the strings and tape them at the desired length.

Place glue or tape on the cylinder that you made to go around the neck of the bottle. I used double sided tape.

Place the square with the tassel on top and place the hat on the bottle.

Ta-da! There you have it! A bottle of wine wearing a mortar board.

I hope that this makes a special treat for all the grads in your life. 

Don't forget to make it your own.

~K

Shopping in Clayton

Hello,

One of my most favorite places in the world is north Georgia - Lake Burton in particular. I was lucky enough to be up there over Easter. In spite of the early spring, it was still pretty cool on the water, so my mom and I decided to go into Clayton on Saturday, while the boys played golf.

Going to Clayton is not necessarily a creative act in and of itself. However, going on an adventure, with an open mind, can result in unexpected inspiration. An added bonus, my mom and I had a fun mother daughter day together.

Clayton is a wonderful little town that is about 20 minutes from Lake Burton and probably a little more than 2 hours northeast of Atlanta. 

We started our day with lunch at Grapes and Beans. I had their wonderful portabella pita, which is a regular on their menu. My mom had a slice of their pimento cheese tomato pie. If you are ever in the neighborhood, I would strongly recommend stopping by for some delicious grub. They also have cute t-shirts in great colors.

From lunch we drove out to a flea market. There was a very eclectic assortment goods, everything from glassware and lamps made from the center of a wagon wheel to leather goods and old records.

I came away with a few purchases that I am pretty excited about. First, I found this great navy and white enamel bracelet. 

It was originally marked at $14. That price was crossed out and $10 was written underneath it. When I asked the lady about the bracelet, she said that I could have it for $5. I was impressed with my negotiation skills - although, I probably would have paid $14. It looked perfect with my Easter outfit.

As we were getting ready to leave the flea market, we ran into a very nice gentleman who was selling tomatoes. These weren't just any tomatoes, they were heirloom tomatoes. He had a wide selection of varieties and they were priced very reasonably. After talking to him, it became clear that preserving these heirloom strains was a passion for him. Since, good tomatoes are one of my favorite things about summer, I purchased 2 of the Gold Medal tomatoes and 1 Cherokee Purple. These were recommended for me because they are particularly hearty plants. Hopefully, my thumb will in fact be green and I will have some scrumptious homegrown tomatoes, perfect for culinary treats!

We left the flea market and headed back to downtown Clayton. There are several great antique shops and art galleries. When we were in the Main Street Gallery, I found this wonderful, small, painting by Moni Hill.

I was drawn to her work because of the vibrant colors she uses - I went back and forth as to which piece of hers I wanted to purchase. I ended up with the one above because I thought that it would add a lot to the alcove around my sink. Don't you agree? :)

Going into my shopping trip in Clayton, I had no expectations or agenda. The result was I was open to be inspired by what I was exposed to.

I hope that you are able to go on an inspiring adventure of your own and would love to hear the details in the comment section. 

And as always, make it your own!

~Kate